


every story is a love story

by atlas (songs)



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-15
Updated: 2014-08-15
Packaged: 2018-02-13 07:36:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2142588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songs/pseuds/atlas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So, er, well—” Seijuro swallows. This, he has to admit, is pretty pathetic. “Do you like…um…lunch?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	every story is a love story

i.

-

“So, er, well—” Seijuro swallows. This, he has to admit, is  _pretty_ pathetic. “Do you like…um…lunch?”

Gou blinks up at him with her too-long lashes.  _Goddammit,_ Seijuro thinks, at a complete loss.  _Goddammit._

Time for damage control. “I don’t mean, like, you don’t eat or anything. Or that you eat too much. I mean, uh,  _I_ like lunch. Y’know, nourishment and all. And I bet you like lunch, too, and I was wondering, if maybe, we could. Er. Eat lunch. Together. Possibly.” He takes a deep breath. “…Yeah.”

In the back of his mind, Seijuro imagines one very amused, very cattish Matsuoka Rin.  _Told you she was too good for you,_ he hears him say, before adding, wickedly, _Cap’n._

 _He’s even a tool in my imagination,_ Seijuro thinks, in awe. It’s almost impressive, if he’s being honest. What also impresses him is the mysterious wonder that is human biology, which somehow allowed for someone as  _cute_ and  _adorable_ as Gou to be _related by blood_ to that sharky little—

“Ne, Mikoshiba-san,” Gou interrupts, giggling. Her voice is all  _pretty_ and  _lilt-y_ and reminds him of summer and meadows and  _wow._ He has it  _bad._ “Are you asking me on a date?”

Seijuro’s jaw goes completely slack. “ _What_.” Suddenly realizing himself, he coughs, and adds, “I mean. Kind of… _Yes.”_

She smiles knowingly. “Okay.”

He sputters. “ _Okay?_ ”

She nods.

“Mm. I’m free Saturday.” Her eyes glint over his features for a moment, and he feels oddly exposed as her gaze lingers on his arms. She’s practically  _glowing_ when she says,  “Ah, and please wear short sleeves. All the time.”

Silence.

Seijuro  _stares. Did he hear that right?_ “Gou-kun?”

The recognition lights her face the second he speaks her name; it’s as if she’s just realized she’s spoken aloud. She smacks her palm over her cherry-pink lips, and stammers:

“I-I have to go, now!”

And as he watches her hurry away, all the while mumbling  _Stupid, Kou, Stupid muscles, stupid, stupid stupid,_ Seijuro decides that  _yeah._

He’s totally tossing out all his long-sleeved shirts.

-

ii.

-

“—and then Makoto-senpai was like  _Haru, no!_ And Haruka-senpai just  _stripped_ and jumped into the  _lake_ and it was  _dirty_ and Nagisa-kun looked like he was going to cry laughing and—” Gou— _no, Kou, she wants to be called_ Kou, he reminds himself—gives him a shy look, and clears her throat. “I’m sorry! I’m rambling. Please stop me. Right now.  _Please._ ”

“But it’s  _cute,_ ” Seijuro presses. Absently, he notices that she’s already eaten all the strawberries on her ice-cream, and he ladles some of his own onto her bowl. She flushes, before offering a grateful smile and taking another bite. “Gou-kun— _I mean._ Kou-san is very cute all the time.”

She blushes a deeper red—it almost fits the shade of her eyes and hair. She says, quietly, “You can just call me Kou-chan.”

“Call me Seijuro-kun, then,” he offers, not missing a beat. “Ne, Kou-chan?”

Gou laughs her tinny bell laugh, and eats another strawberry. “Alright, Seijuro-kun.”

-

iii.

-

“You just have to trust the water.”

“You sound  _just_  like Haruka-senpai!” Gou whines, tightening the tie around her ruby-hair. Seijuro is just grateful that both of them are already in the water, and that Rin already made his (sassy) way home. Between  _Gou_ in a bathing suit and Rin and his primal need to fit the Overprotective Brother Cliché, Seijuro is sure that there is no room in this pool for  _two_ Matsuoka’s.

“Hey,” he teases. “They call me Captain for a reason. I’ll make sure you’ve mastered floating by the end of the day.”

She huffs. “… _Fine._ ”

“Okay,” he tells her. “Just lean back.”

“I’m gonna drown!”

“No,” he says. “I’ve got you.”

“ _Really?”_ Gou asks, her voice strained. It sounds sort of…cute.  _Go figure._

“Trust me,” Seijuro says, gently.

Gou puffs out her cheeks. “You have to promise.”

“Promise what?”

“You won’t drop me. If I die, I’ll become a ghost, and haunt you for the rest of your life!”

Seijuro laughs, the sound trilling across the water. “I promise.”

“…Fine,” she says. “I’m trusting you.”

Gou shifts onto her back, and he cradles her head from behind, fingers skimming her temples; she lets out a soft, glassy sound from the back of her throat, and it sends a shiver down his spine.

Her eyes are shut. “You’ve got me, right?”

Seijuro smiles.

“Yeah,” he says, smoothing out the worried line between her brows. “I’ve got you.”

-

iv.

-

“WHY ARE YOU TWO HOLDING HANDS.”

“Onii-chan! Stop being such a prude! All dating couples hold hands!”

“SINCE WHEN HAVE YOU TWO BEEN DATING.”

“You’re not even asking it like a question! Use some intonation, Onii-chan!”

“THIS IS THE BEST I CAN MANAGE WITHOUT STRANGLING—” 

“Rin-senpai, you can’t kill our Captain—”

“BUT  _AI_ —”

“I’m standing right  _here,_ Matsuoka—”

“I CAN SEE THAT. VERY CLEARLY. YOU’RE HOLDING MY SISTER’S HAND WITH YOUR ENORMOUS BEAR PAWS.”

“Ne, Onii-chan! Don’t be rude! And stop gnashing your teeth, you’ll end up with only gums!”

“UGH—JUST. THIS ISN’T THE END, MIKOSHIBA. MARK MY WORDS.”

And when Seijuro looks down at Gou, with her bright-bright smile and her summertime laugh, he thinks:

_I hope it never is._


End file.
